Presenting the Althorp Collectors’ Watch Case, by Robinson

In his studio in the Scottish Borders, artisan maker Callum Robinson has created a sensational watch chest from the same historic oak that went into his unique Vacheron Constantin cabinet

The Althorp Watch Case is a hardwood box with space for four watches, hand-made by Scots cabinetmaker Callum Robinson – and we want one badly. Only two are being made though, at £2,760 each – but for a couple of people, these will make very beautiful homes for some precious watches.

Here at QP, we first became aware of Robinson and his Method Studio last year, when he produced a quite extraordinary one-off watch box to house a tourbillon minute repeater for Vacheron Constantin. Robinson, a second-generation craftsman whose projects have included travelling trunks for Jaguar Land Rover, oak whisky chests for John Walker & Sons and cabinets for Edinburgh watch retailer Hamilton & Inches, spent 300 hours creating the box, which came complete with tiny drawers and compartments for tools, a winder, travel unit and a resonator for the minute repeater.

(If you want to see Robinson’s work up close, you can – next week he’ll be exhibiting as part of London Craft Week, a new event sponsored by Vacheron Constantin. You can find out all about that, and other craftspeople appearing, here.)

While Method Studio produces unique objects, Robinson has established a separate brand under his own surname for smaller pieces produced in limited series, which was led out last year by his next watch product, the Collectors’ Campaign watch case. This was a leather and hardwood box for a single watch, based on the portable unite from the Vacheron Constantin cabinet.

What many collectors want is space to store a few watches, which makes the Althorp case the logical next step. It’s made from a very special piece of wood – the only remaining piece of a rare, old growth brown oak tree from the Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire (ancestral home of Princess Diana), which was also used for the Vacheron Constantin case.

Besides room for four watches, there’s also space to store spare straps in a slim drawer, and a drop-down work-surface lined in burgundy leather. As with the Collectors’ Campaign case, bridle leather straps close over polished, solid brass fasteners.

The Robinson Althorp Watch Case is priced at £2,760, while a version made in non-Althorp oak is £1,885. The Robinson Collectors’ Campaign Watch Case is priced at £285. You can order them all here.